


Boy You Play Through My Mind Like A Symphony

by fortunehasgivenup



Series: And did you know that I'm wild for your skin [4]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: AU, Backstory, Blow Jobs, Body Image, Dirty Talk, F/M, Family, Feelings, Getting to Know Each Other, Insecurity, No Angst, Oral Sex, Post-Divorce, Sex, Tattoos, Vaginal Sex, dad Rio, parenting, tattoo artist - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 19:01:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19362565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortunehasgivenup/pseuds/fortunehasgivenup
Summary: Annie has her first session and gets to know Rio better, sharing a thing or two about Beth as she does.Beth and Rio have their second date, which winds up lasting longer than originally planned.Rio spends time with new acquaintances and old foes.





	Boy You Play Through My Mind Like A Symphony

The moment Annie showed up for her first appointment, Rio was pretty sure that he was about to face another interrogation, but her smug grin disappeared at the first touch of the needle against her skin.

“Oh fuck,” she cursed.

Rio raised the needle. “This going to be a problem?”

She looked over her shoulder at him. “I once grew a human being and then pushed it out of my vagina. I’ll be fine.”

“That don’t mean shit,” he replied, but started to ink in the first lines. “Not all pains are the same.”

Annie hummed. “That’s true.”

She fell silent for a while as Rio fell into the familiar rhythm of tattooing. For all his assumptions that Annie would be a squirmer, she lay almost perfectly still as he worked. Every so often, she would shift, but she always waited until he wasn’t working on her skin.

“Are you asleep?” He asked, wiping away blood and ink from her skin.

“No,” came her response. “Are there people who can fall asleep?”

Rio shrugged, then remembered that she wasn’t looking at him. “Probably. Passing out is probably more likely though.”

Annie hummed in consideration, then settled again.

“So you and my sister, huh?” She said the next time he lifted the needle.

He winced. There it was. “Let’s not talk about that right now.”

“What, you don’t want to talk about boning my sister while I’m half naked on your table and you have an instrument of pain in your hands?” Annie drawled.

“Something like that,” Rio muttered, only partly talking to Annie.

“Relax, I have no interest in knowing about your sex life,” Annie said. “I was just going to say that she gets flustered whenever we bring you up and Ruby called me after she ambushed you two in the park.”

Rio grinned at the reminder of Beth’s friend and her impromptu interrogation. It had lessened when he’d re-joined them on the bench after getting the kids started on playing soccer, but her questions had still been pointed. Where did he live? What kind of relationship was he looking for? How was he navigating dating with a son? How was he planning to approach getting to know Beth’s kids? 

The whole time, Beth had sunk deeper and deeper on the bench. He’d answered her questions and by the time they all left the park, Ruby had seemed to be approving.

“And?” He asked.

“She said, and I quote, “As long as he knows how to fold laundry, he’s a keeper.” So I suppose I should ask if you know how to fold laundry.”

“I even know how to fold a fitted sheet,” he told her. His mother had made sure of that. He and Lora had both had chores and she had never divided them along gender lines. “Know how to work an iron too.”

Annie chuckled. “Oh really?”

Rio straightened up. “Who do you think irons my shirts?” Annie turned her head to look at him, then dropped her eyes to his button-up.

“Touché,” she said, dropping her head back down. “Point taken.”

Rio went back to work. “Marcus helps with laundry now,” he told her without really meaning to. As soon as he said it, he was surprised.

“Does he?” Annie mumbled into the table.

“Yup.” If he was sharing, he might as well share. “Helps separate the loads and put everything in, then puts stuff that needs to air dry on hangers. He likes matching the socks and putting them together.”

“Sadie used to love doing that,” Annie said. “Well, now he does all of his own laundry, but when he was little, we’d sit on my bed to sort the clean laundry and he loved doing that part. These days, I’m pretty sure none of my socks match anymore.”

Rio smiled, then looked down at her mismatched socks. “If you just have a lot of the same pair of black socks, they always match,” he said.

“What am I, an adult?” Annie shook her head. “I buy rainbow multipacks.”

He hit a spot that made her draw in a sharp breath. “We’ll take a break soon,” he told her. “You should have some water. Maybe a granola bar.”

Annie laughed. “You sound just like my sister right now.”

Rio finished up the section he was working on and wiped it. “Okay, ten minutes. I’m gonna grab you that water. Need anything else?”

“Nah,” Annie slowly pushed herself up, holding her forearm over her chest.

He fetched the water and a granola bar from the stash that they kept at the front desk, then headed towards the back alley after dropping them off with Annie. As he took a breather outside, stretching this way and that, he decided to call Beth.

“Hello?”

Rio smiled when she answered, kicking his foot back against the brick wall of the shop. “Hey, it’s me.”

“Is something wrong with Annie?” Beth jumped to conclusions. “Do I need to come and -“

“Hey, hey,” Rio cut in, “she’s fine. We’re just taking a break for a few minutes.”

“Oh.” She sounded relieved.

He looked up at the sky. It was a cloudless day, sunny and warm. “Just wanted to say hi.”

“Oh. Hi,” Beth said.

The brick scratched at his upper arm as he shifted in place. “Was wondering if we were going to get a second date or not.”

There was silence, then Beth’s light laughter. He opened his mouth to tell her that laughing wasn’t an answer.

“How do you feel about coming to mine for dinner tomorrow?”

Rio’s mouth clamped shut. That worked.

“Rio?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, sounds good.”

“Come over around 6 or so,” Beth said.

“Should I bring anything?” He scratched his scalp. “Booze. Food.”

Beth hummed. “I think we’re good, although if there’s anything really specific that you want, feel free to bring it. You don’t have allergies, do you?”

“Nope,” Rio pushed away from the wall to head back inside. “I’ll eat pretty much anything.”

She laughed again. “So my sons aren’t going to age out of that, huh?”

“They might,” he replied, “just don’t count on it. Listen, I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“At 6,” Beth confirmed. “Have a good day!”

“Bye.” Rio slid his phone back into his pocket and went to wash up.

“I love Beth,” Annie said a couple of hours later as he bandaged up her back. “Our mom wasn’t really there, so Beth’s the one who did all that stuff for me. She’s great.”

“I know,” Rio said, taping down the edges.

“She’s amazing,” Annie went on. “Dean was practically a fifth child half the time and she deserves to be happy and have someone who is capable of taking care of himself. I know, I know, you’re already at my Ted Talk,” she waved a hand, “I just want to make sure that you get it. Really get it.”

“Get what, that she’s amazing?” Rio applied the last of the tape and stepped away. “Done.”

“Whoever ends up with Beth is going to be like, the luckiest person ever,” Annie tugged down her shirt and slowly turned around to face him, “and I want her to have someone that makes her feel like she’s lucky too. I want her to feel like she’s with someone worth something and I’m going to do everything that I can to make sure that she does.”

Rio pulled the covering off the table and put it in the waste disposal bin. He took a minute to compose himself before turning back to Annie.

“She’s a grown woman, Annie,” he said. “She gets to make her own choices.”

“I know that, but last time she picked Dean.” Annie started to lift her arms to cross them over her chest only to wince part way through the action and drop them back down.

“From what I hear, she was sixteen.” Rio pointed towards the exit. “She was still a girl when she made that decision.”

He guided Annie towards the front, where Jesse was fielding phone calls.

“I just want to take care of her,” Annie said, stopping just short of the waiting area. “The way that she’s taken care of me.”

“That’s what big sisters do,” he told her. “And they’re either really good or really bad at accepting payback. Beth strikes me as the type that’s really bad at it.”

“You have an older sister?” Annie asked. He could read her surprise easily.

“Lora.”

Annie’s grin took over her face. “You’re the baby brother! That’s adorable. Are there compromising photos of you dressed up as anything strange?”

“No,” Rio told her, then started to ring her up.

“That means that she absolutely has some.” Annie handed over an envelope of cash. “I bet you were an animal for at least one Halloween as a baby.”

More like every Halloween, Rio thought as he counted. His mom had thought it was adorable. He took out enough to cover the session, then started to hand the rest back.

“It’s customary to tip, is it not?” Annie didn’t move to take it.

Rio shrugged. “Up to you.”

“Well, if we’re going to be spending time together,” Annie stepped away from the counter, “then I need to make sure you don’t think I’m an asshole.”

Jesse hung up the phone. “Ready to make your next appointment?” He asked Annie, pushing his rolled up shirtsleeves a little bit higher. Rio had to fight his eye roll and knocked his foot against Jesse’s. He could flirt on his own damn time.

“Jesse’ll give you care instructions,” Rio said before Annie could answer Jesse’s question. “If you lose it, call us. Don’t just Google it.”

“Sure, sure,” Annie said, probably not really listening. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Rio knocked the countertop. “I’ll see you later.”

He went back to his workspace to clean up, making sure that everything wound up in the right place.

To his surprise, Annie came back a few minutes later as he was sterilizing the table.

“You forget something again?” He teased her. Annie didn’t laugh.

“She likes bourbon,” Annie said. “Beth. It’s her drink of choice. No white wines or rosés or fruity cocktails unless she’s on a beach.”

Rio nodded, Beth’s words from all those weeks ago coming to mind. _None of us drink rosé._ “Take care,” he called after her as she left.

On the way home, he stopped by the liquor store and, after frantically googling what made a good bourbon, settled on a bottle to take to dinner.

The text came that evening, while Rio was putting away a load of laundry.

_Remember that thing that I said the other night?_

_You said a lot of things the other night, Elizabeth._

_About not using condoms._

He hit the call button.

“Jesus!” Was the first thing that came out of Rio’s mouth when Beth picked up the phone.

He could practically feel her surprise through the phone. “I got tested,” she said after a beat. “Clean bill of health. I have the paperwork here.”

Rio thumped his head against the wall.

“I know that it might be a little soon for that, but I wanted to be ready and just maybe talk about -“

“We get tested at the shop fairly regularly, just to be safe. I -“ he cleared his throat. “We’ve got another one scheduled in a couple of weeks.”

“Oh,” Beth said. Sighed, more like.

Rio looked up at the sound of the toilet flushing. “Look, I’ve got Marcus today, so I can’t really talk now.”

“Of course,” Beth replied, “I’ll let you -“

He groaned. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Sure. Good night.”

“Night, Elizabeth.”

He hung up right as Marcus came out of the bathroom and came running over to climb up onto the bed. 

“Can we have popsicles?”

Rio folded the pair of pants in his hand and set them to the side to be put away with the others.

“We don’t have any.”

“We can go to the store,” Marcus said, unbothered.

Rio laughed, reaching over to ruffle Marcus’ hair. “We can, can we?” He nodded. “Help me put this stuff away and we can go get some popsicles.”

Marcus would have helped anyways, but as he raced his shirts to his small dresser, Rio watched in amusement. It didn’t take long before he was jamming a ball cap on Marcus’ head, putting sunglasses on, and they were heading downstairs.

“Are you going on another date with Jane’s mom?” Marcus asked as they walked the few blocks to the store.

Rio nodded. “Tomorrow night.”

“I like her,” Marcus took Rio’s hand when they reached the crosswalk and they looked both ways before starting to cross. “She’s really nice.”

“I like her too, pop,” Rio said.

Marcus was quiet for a moment. “Do you think she likes me?”

Rio grinned down at Marcus’ slightly worried expression. “She likes you.”

“How come I can’t come to dinner then?” Marcus asked, not letting go once they were on the other side of the street. “I go to dinner with Mom and Logan sometimes.”

“They’ve been dating for a little longer,” Rio explained. “Do you remember how before you met him, your mom sat down with you and explained that she wanted to introduce you to someone?”

“That’s silly though,” Marcus argued, “I already know Miss Beth.”

He had a point. They reached the store, but Rio stopped before they got to the door and crouched down, facing Marcus.

“Elizabeth and me, we’re -“ he hunted for the right words, “we’re just getting to know each other first a little bit. But I think one day soon, we’ll have her over and make her dinner. How about that?”

Marcus considered this. “She likes me? You’re sure?”

Rio smiled, touching his son’s cheek. “She likes you, Marcus, and she’ll like you even more once she gets to know you better.”

“Okay,” Marcus agreed. “Can we get popsicles now?”

——————————

“Hey,” Beth greeted Rio at the door with a smile, biting her lip a little self consciously. She stepped aside to let him in and he carefully placed his shoes on the mat before shrugging out of his denim jacket, revealing bare arms. It looked like he’d cut the sleeves off the shirt himself - they were a little uneven and curled at the edges.

He held up a bottle of bourbon.

“Annie?” Beth guessed.

He nodded. “Annie.” He bent down and finally kissed her. “What’s for dinner?”

Beth had to laugh at the expression on his face. Eager, but a little reserved.

“Pasta,” Beth said, then turned to go back to the kitchen. She went to the bubbling pot of sauce and gave it a stir, sniffing the air as she did.

“Smells good to me, ma,” Rio came to stand behind her, wrapping his hand around hers on the spoon and lifting it to his mouth. Beth leaned back against him.

“Have a good day?” He asked, starting to sway them back and forth with the music playing quietly in the background and humming along with it.

“You’re not allowed to do that,” Beth scolded.

“What?” Rio dropped his hands to rest over her stomach.

“Do sexy stuff when I can’t jump you,” she hissed as the water reached a boil. She tossed in the pasta and stepped back, moving him with her.

“I’ll have to remember that. Also, why is it that you can’t jump me?”

“We only have while the pasta cooks, that’s not very long,” Beth reminded him.

Rio spun her around and she could see that he was already grinning. “Long enough to get you to give me more time.”

“And then what will we eat?” Beth poked him in the stomach.

He barely even noticed. “We’ll figure something out.” He kissed her firmly, hands moving to her ass.

Feeling him already half hard against her, Beth made a split second decision and broke the kiss.

Beth unbuckled Rio’s belt, but didn’t pull it out of the loops. Instead, she undid his pants and tugged them down just far enough that she could free his cock without subjecting him to the teeth of his zipper.

“Oh,” he breathed, widening his stance as Beth sank down onto her knees. “You sure you wanna do that here? Now?” He asked, nodding to the floor of her kitchen.

“Shut up, Rio,” she replied, startling a laugh out of him.

“Alright then.” He reached down and used his middle finger to brush her hair back. That done, he lifted both of his hands to clutch at the edge of the kitchen counter.

Beth wrapped a hand around him, near the base, and lowered her mouth to ghost her lips over the head. Above her, Rio let out a shaky breath. It had been…years since the last time that Beth had done this and it hadn’t been a particularly pleasant activity, but it was one she’d found herself thinking about more and more. In bed at night, she’d started to imagine the weight of Rio on her tongue, how his girth would force her to open her jaw, wondered how deep she’d be able to take him and the thoughts had made her squirm until she had to slip a finger inside of herself.

She worked her tongue around the head when she heard him groan.

“Yeah,” he breathed. Beth sucked him deeper, brushing her thumb over his balls and massaging them slightly. “Fuck.”

In her head, she high fived herself for getting that reaction out of him, then set about getting even more of one. There was no way in hell she’d be able to deepthroat him and she wasn’t particularly interested in gagging by trying. So she explored what things made Rio’s hands tighten - licking the thick vein on the underside, what had him swearing - mouthing at his balls, until his hands were in her hair and tugging.

“Fuck, Elizabeth, I’m gonna come if you don’t stop,” he warned. Beth looked up at him through her lashes and took him in her mouth again. His eyes narrowed briefly, but when she sucked, his head fell back and his grip on her hair got tighter.

When it happened, he grunted like he’d been hit, then let out a long groan as he started to come.

Beth swallowed him down, sucking until nothing more spilled into her mouth and Rio’s moans grew pained. She sat back on her heels and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, watching him regain his breath, still staring up at the ceiling.

“Gimme a minute,” he panted.

She tucked him back into his pants and did them back up, then stood again. “Take your time,” she murmured. “I want you to fuck me later.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed and his jaw clenched, relaxed, then clenched again before he lifted his head to look down at her. “That’s why I tried to warn you.”

“Yeah, and I wanted you to finish,” Beth patted his chest. “Now you can recover for later.”

He tugged her face until it was pressed against his chest. “You’re gonna kill me.”

“But what a way to go,” she teased.

“Put it on my tombstone. Come here,” he pulled her face up to his and kissed her. Beth stiffened at first - Dean had never kissed her after she went down on him, not until she brushed and used mouthwash. But Rio had no such problems.

The hiss of water boiling over made Beth push away and dash to the stove, shoving the pasta pot off the element. She speared a piece and ate it, shrugging. “It’s a little more al dente than I’d normally go for, but whose fault is that?” She took a sip of her wine.

“I’ll take the blame for that,” Rio kissed her cheek, grabbing the strainer and holding it over the sink for her. “It was worth it.”

Despite the less than ideal state of the pasta, dinner was nice. They ate at the island, legs tangling together as he teased her for all of the kitchen gadgets she had.

“I bet you have your own pasta maker,” he said.

Beth took a sip of wine to cover up her protest, then set it down and replied, “It’s an attachment for the KitchenAid.”

Rio just laughed. “Ice cream maker?”

“Also an attachment for the KitchenAid,” she admitted.

“Sure your name isn’t Martha Stewart?” He asked as he finished off his dinner and pushed the plate away.

Beth kicked him lightly in the shin. “I’ve never been to prison,” she said, as if that were an answer.

“You’re still young,” was all Rio said. “Wasn’t she like 50 when she went in?”

From there, it devolved into an argument about crafts - something Beth shouldn’t have been so surprised he knew a lot about. His job put him in contact with all kinds of artists working in all kinds of mediums.

“Been getting into woodcuts,” he said, showing her a photo on his phone. “It’s not a medium I’d worked in before, so it’s slow going and I keep cutting my fingers.” He held them up, showing her a few mostly healed cuts.

“What about you?” Rio asked, lifting up her hand and beginning to run his fingers across her palm, then from her wrist to the tip of her middle finger. “What do you do when you’re not working or taking care of them babies?”

Beth laughed, closing her hand to cover up her shiver. Rio raised an eyebrow, then just moved his fingers up to her forearm, teasing his way towards her elbow.

“Well,” Beth said, “I sleep. Lately, spend time with you.” He grinned, tickling the inside of her elbow. “I like to make stuff. I knit. I crochet. Annie’s been making me go to yoga with her.”

“What are you working on right now?” Rio lifted her hand up towards his mouth and started to kiss her knuckles.

“I am currently,” he flipped her hand and kissed her wrist, “working on a -“ he licked over her pulse and she drew in a quick breath.

“Working on a -?” Rio prompted after a moment.

“Working on a sweater,” Beth cleared the fog from her mind by lifting her glass of bourbon and tossing back the rest. “For myself.”

“You make a lot for yourself?” Rio set her hand down on the counter and switched his attention to the other.

“No,” Beth admitted. “But I saw the pattern and it was so pretty that I just -“ she shrugged.

“Good,” Rio declared. “You should do more for yourself. You like yoga?”

Beth screwed up her mouth. “I don’t hate it. It can get a little too much sometimes, when they start talking about all the spiritual stuff, but it’s helped with back pain.”

Rio nodded. “Yeah, lots of repetitive motions in cooking and baking.”

“The G cups don’t help,” Beth added.

His lips twitched as he tried to hide his grin. “I wasn’t gonna say anything,” he teased. “You could always come to the gym with me.”

Beth snorted. “And run on a treadmill, do leg presses, the elliptical?”

Rio shook his head. “I box.”

“You box?” Beth was surprised.

Rio tugged on a piece of her hair. “Yeah, since I was a little punk ass thirteen year old. Just recreational, but it keeps me fit.”

Beth wasn’t going to disagree with that. It kept him very fit indeed. He must have read her thoughts because he slid off of his stool and lifted Beth up into his arms.

She shrieked, grasping onto his neck. “Oh my god!”

“I’m not going to drop you,” he said, looking almost offended. “I could deadlift you, Elizabeth.”

She didn’t loosen her stranglehold on his neck as he moved them to the couch and dropped onto it, taking it slowly so that he didn’t crush her legs under him.

Beth adjusted her position so that she was straddling his thighs. Their height difference was gone in this position, leaving them eye to eye without Rio getting a crick in his neck.

Reaching up, she started to brush her hand over his scalp. “Why keep your hair short?”

Settling against the cushions, Rio gave a half shrug. “My mom always kept it short when I was a kid. Then when I was old enough to make my own choices, it seemed practical.”

“Ever thought about growing it?”

He grimaced.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Beth laughed.

“More or less,” Rio agreed. A small smile tugged at his lips. 

“What are you thinking?” Beth kept running her fingers over his scalp.

“My mom never saw my dad without a moustache.”

“Really?” Beth ran her fingertips of her right hand over his upper lip.

He nodded. “He had it when they met and when me and Lora were kids he used to tease my mom and say that if he got rid of it, she wouldn’t even recognize him. Then they’d chase each other around the house, pretending that they didn’t know the other one.”

“What happened to him?” Beth asked. He’d mentioned his mother and sister plenty, but not his dad.

Rio lifted his head from the couch and let it fall back again. “Heart attack when I was 12.”

“He was young.”

“Yeah, he was.” Rio’s hand on Beth’s hip tightened a fraction.

“You miss him,” she said, running her thumbs over his cheekbones.

Rio nodded, his smile fading away. It was an event that had happened twenty years ago and the grief was still there. Beth leaned forward and kissed his forehead, his nose, one eyelid, then the other.

“He’d be proud of you,” she said. “You’re a good man and a great dad.”

“It got a little dodgy in the middle there,” Rio waved aside the compliment.

Beth shook her head, putting her thumb on his lips. “That makes the rest of it mean that much more. You’re amazing.”

He shifted under her and Beth sat up. He was…uncomfortable.

“You can’t take a compliment!” Beth accused him. She gasped. “You can’t!”

He scowled, but Beth just started to laugh and bent towards him. He relaxed into the kiss, not wasting any time in wrapping a hand around the back of Beth’s head to hold her close and slipping the other up the back of her shirt.

Beth put her hands flat against his chest and scratched lightly at him through his t-shirt. He practically purred in response, lifting his head to kiss her harder.

She broke the kiss and pulled away. “Not out here,” she told him, tugging him up off the couch. He didn’t protest, just followed her to the bedroom and began to strip the second they were in Beth’s space.

Rio was naked first and came to Beth’s side, nearly tossing her onto the bed by grabbing the backs of her thighs and hoisting her up. She bounced on the mattress.

He started to go down on his knees at the edge of the bed, but Beth found that she didn’t want that.

“Nuh uh,” she told him, rubbing her hand over his scalp. “I want you.”

“You’re gonna get me,” he promised, pressing kisses along her jaw.

“I want _you_ ,” Beth stressed moving her hand down to grasp him.

He kissed up her chin and nipped her bottom lip. “You’re going to get _me_ ,” he teased her before pulling back to kneel and tug down her skirt.

He’d grabbed a condom at some point, so Beth ripped it open and rolled it down his length, giving him an extra stroke or two just because she felt like it.

Then he was getting off the bed.

“What?” Beth reached out towards him, but he shook his head.

“Hands and knees, Elizabeth,” he said.

The heat that filled her at that was delicious, warming her completely. She did as asked and looked over her shoulder at him. He was running his eyes over her body. Beth wiggled her hips, making him grin and step back to the bed, climbing up until he was behind her.

He slid two fingers inside of her without warning, pumped in and out a few times, then removed them, moved closer.

Beth had never been one for doggy style. But as Rio held her in place with one hand and guided his cock in with the other, she changed her mind. She cried out, fisting the sheets in her hands. Both hands now on her hips, Rio worked himself into her a little bit at a time, holding her still so that she couldn’t dictate their speed.

“Fuck,” she gasped into suddenly too hot air of the bedroom.

He slid his hands up her back to her waist, lowering himself towards her as he trailed them over her ribcage and then finally cupped her breasts. The shift in position changed the angle of him inside of her and Beth moaned.

Rio kissed her shoulder. “Yeah?” He said. Beth nodded, frantic for him to start moving. “You like that?”

“Yes,” she moaned. “I want you to fuck me,” she reached up to hook a hand around Rio’s neck, “until I can’t even walk.”

He nipped her. “I can do that,” he said conversationally.

He pinched her nipples, then released her breasts as he straightened up, pulling away. His fingers dug into her hips. She was almost certain that there would be bruises the next day and the thought made her shiver.

Beth practically sobbed at the first slap of Rio’s thighs against the backs of hers. She tightened her grip on the bedsheets to brace herself. The second thrust nearly knocked her forwards. She could feel the strength, the power, in his body as he held her in place.

“Fuck,” he swore, “you feel good.”

“So d’you,” she muttered before he angled his hips slightly and his cock started to drag over a particularly sensitive spot.

Her arms trembled and her breasts ached. She lifted a hand and grabbed a pillow to tuck under her chest.

She tensed around him, getting a groan in response.

He bent over her back, the cool metal of his necklace getting trapped between their bodies, dragging back and forth with his motions.

“Rub your clit for me,” he said into her ear, following it with a sharp nip to the lobe.

Beth didn’t need to be told twice. It took a second to figure out how best to brace herself while rubbing quick circles around and over her clit, but once she did, she felt herself falling off a peak she’d thought to be much further away.

She practically wailed into the pillow as her climax hit, but Rio didn’t slow. He kept fucking her and when the motions of her hand slowed, he growled something.

“Huh?” Beth turned her head to the side.

“Keep touching yourself,” Rio demanded.

Beth whimpered with oversensitivity as she did what he’d asked. “It’s a lot,” she said.

“Too much?” Rio asked.

Biting her bottom lip, Beth shook her head.

“Then don’t stop,” he murmured. His right hand drifted up her side from her hip until he was framing the underside of her breast with his thumb and forefinger, palm cradling her ribcage. “I think we can get you there again.”

The slap of his hips against hers as he pounded into her was obscene, made all the more so by the filthy things that Rio kept saying.

“You keep tightening up around me, squeezing my cock, Elizabeth,” he said, licking her shoulder blade. “You want me to come too? That it?”

Beth nodded. “I want you to come,” she said, twisting the pillowcase in one hand and rubbing harder with the other.

He squeezed her breast. “You first,” he demanded. “I want to feel you coming around me.”

She practically sobbed as she pushed herself towards an orgasm. Her toes were curling against the sheets, looking for something to grip onto despite Rio’s hold on her. His hands burned against her skin.

The hand at her breast disappeared, only to knock her hand away and begin circling her clit. Beth cried out, grabbing onto Rio’s wrist as it hit her.

She felt him thrust a few more times, then push his hips against hers one last time with a groan.

When he straightened up, peeling his chest away from her back, Beth moaned weakly. He pulled out, kissing her between her shoulder blades as he did.

She vaguely registered him grabbing a tissue before collapsing next to her.

Beth lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling as Rio panted at her side. “Is it always like that?”

There was the sound of shuffling, then he was pressed against her side, one hand on her cheek directing her to look at him. “Like what?”

“Sex,” she said. “Is it always like that? That good?”

He smiled, but it wasn’t smug or lecherous. Instead, it felt…soft. “You mean with other people?”

Beth nodded.

“Nah,” he pressed his lips to hers, still smiling, “just with you. I take your question to mean it’s never been like that before with anyone else.”

“The only other man I’ve ever had sex with is Dean,” she told him. He didn’t seem surprised, just bobbed his head once. “It wasn’t like this.”

“He take care of you?” Rio asked, moving his hand to rest on her rib cage. “Hurt you?”

“No, nothing like that,” she reached out to clutch his arm, “he didn’t hurt me.”

His expression sobered. “There’s a lot of ways to hurt somebody, Elizabeth.”

She didn’t know what to say to that, so she settled for changing the subject.

“Do you have to get back to Marcus this time?”

“Nope.” His smile came back. “You trying to get rid of me?”

Beth shook her head and turned onto her side so that their fronts were touching. “Wondering how long I get to keep you around for tonight.”

“All night,” he replied, starting to draw lazy circles on her side. “Until you kick me out.”

She gave his lips a quick peck, then rolled away. “I’m not kicking you out, but I did make dessert and there’s no way in hell that I’m letting you eat it in bed, so you’re going to have to come to the kitchen.”

“Do I have to get dressed?” Rio raised his arms to slip them behind his head, displaying his nudity proudly, in a way Beth wasn’t sure she’d ever achieve.

“Underwear,” she told him. “No sitting bare assed on public surfaces in this house.”

He grinned, pushing himself up. “Fine. What are you feeding me?”

“Profiteroles,” Beth put her panties back on and took the robe from the door.

Rio was out of the bed before she’d even finished the word. He snagged his boxer briefs off the floor and pulled them on. “Custard or ice cream?”

“Ice cream.” Beth tied the robe shut.

He groaned.

“And chocolate sauce.”

Rio crossed the room, grabbed her face, and kissed her.

“You like those things?” Beth guessed when he pulled away.

He nodded. “So let’s go,” he patted her ass, “I’m hungry.”

“We just ate!” Beth rolled her eyes, but led the way to the kitchen and grabbed the various components that she’d already prepared - the choux puffs, the chocolate sauce, the ice cream. “And don’t say that you’re a growing boy or something.”

“No, I’m a grown man,” Rio agreed, “who wants profiteroles.” He draped himself over her back, arms wrapping around her waist as he watched her assemble them.

He reached for the first one, but she knocked his hand aside. “Not until they’re done.”

Rio huffed against her ear, but didn’t try to snatch one again. Finally, they were assembled and placed on a plate.

He went to take it, but Beth got there first. “We are eating these at the table, where they can do the least damage,” she spun away from him with a pointed look.

“I gotta warn you,” Rio said as he moved his chair so that it was right next to Beth’s, “when you come over for dinner, I don’t have your skills.”

“No?” Beth picked up a pastry and bit into it. “That’s fine. If I can survive Annie’s attempts at cooking when she was 16, I can survive anything.”

She had expected Rio to dive right into dessert, but he didn’t. Instead, he reached down to hook his hands behind her knees and lifted her legs so that they were draped on his lap. Then he took a profiterole. He groaned when he took his first bite.

“You’re never getting rid of me now,” he said after he chewed, then popped the other half in his mouth.

Beth finished hers as she shook her head. “What makes you think I want to?”

“Nothing,” he answered. “I’m just letting you know now. Fuck, I haven’t had one of these in years.” He grabbed another one. “Don’t tell my aunt, but I think they might be better than any of the ones she ever made.”

Beth laughed. “I won’t tell.”

“Good,” Rio said. “She’d never speak to me again and I’d miss her Christmas cookies.”

“Not her?”

He shrugged. “Tia Rita I can leave or take. Her cookies? To die for.”

He ate another one, then a fourth when Beth pushed it across the plate towards him. Two was more than enough for her.

“I should get to know Marcus more,” Beth commented a few moments later, toying with his fingers after pushing aside the remnants of their dessert. “And you should get to know my kids too.”

“Yeah?” Rio was smiling at her. Beth nodded. “Okay.”

They lapsed into silence.

“How do we want to play that?” He asked.

Beth grimaced. And that was the trouble right there. “I have no idea. I’ve been looking at all kinds of stuff online, but it all suggests different methods.”

Rio let her flip his hand and Beth started to trace the lines of his palm. “Yeah, the internet’s like that. But,” his other hand came up to her chin and rubbed it, “our kids are already aware of each other, which is good. Hell, Marcus and Jane would probably turn into a single organism if they could.”

The image of Marcus and Jane running in one giant soccer jersey made her smile.

“What if,” Beth began, “we start with just meeting each other’s kids for now. I’ll come to dinner with you and Marcus. You come do something with me and mine. With soccer, all of us are around each other without specific plans.”

“Then build up to it?” Rio said. Beth nodded. “That could work. Last night, Marcus was asking why he doesn’t get to come to dinner with us.”

“And what did you say?”

Rio chuckled. “Well, let’s say that he doesn’t think that there’s any need for us to wait to have dinner with him like happened with Cassie, his mom, and her boyfriend Logan, because he already knows you.”

“He has a good point,” Beth replied. “He does know me.”

Rio leaned forward and rubbed his nose against hers. “Maybe I want to have you to myself, just a little while longer.”

Beth’s heart felt like it was about to burst.

————————

Rio was a sound sleeper, but apparently one that latched onto whatever was at hand because Beth woke up with him wrapped around her, morning wood pressing insistently against her ass.

She wiggled a little bit.

“Morning,” Rio mumbled, still sounding sleepy. She felt him rub the tip of his nose up and down the back of her neck.

“Morning,” Beth said, wiggling again.

Rio groaned and tightened his hold on her middle. “Ignore it.”

“Ignore it?” Beth turned in his arms until she was facing an adorably sleep rumpled Rio. “It’s making itself known.”

He hummed. “It can wait.”

Beth reached down between them, but Rio grabbed her hand. “Not yet, ma,” his voice was soft. “Let’s just wake up first.”

“Not a morning person?”

Rio’s eyes slid shut and his bottom lip jutted out a little more in an exaggerated pout. “When I don’t have a six year old trying to jump on me, I like to take advantage of it.”

“Well, I won’t jump on you,” Beth said, kissing his cheek. “But I’m going to get out of bed now.”

“No,” he mumbled, shimmying down so that his head was resting on her breastbone.

Beth smiled, stroking the back of his head. “You’re a big baby in the mornings, huh?”

He just burrowed a little closer.

She giggled, only kind of because of how his stubble scratched her skin.

They lay like that for a few minutes, his face buried in her chest as she scratched his scalp until he groaned. “You’re torturing me, Elizabeth.”

“What?” Beth craned her neck to see him.

“You know how good that feels?” He lifted himself up until their faces were in line. Beth didn’t have time to worry about morning breath before he was kissing her. And if he didn’t mind, then neither did she.

Rio didn’t seem inclined to draw it out, so when Beth grabbed a condom from the nightstand, he moved to lie on his back as she rolled it on.

His hands were greedy, moving all over her body as she straddled him. She held him in place so that she could sink down, welcoming him easily into her body. As she worked her hips back and forth, she shivered at how good it felt when he filled her like this.

Resting her hands on his chest, she lifted herself up a little and sank down again.

Rio’s bottom lip was caught between his teeth as he watched her.

The morning sunlight coming in through the doors that led outside filtered through the gauzy curtains, making the room bright. It warmed Rio’s skin, illuminated him so that she could see every single one of his eyelashes, every pore, every little thing.

As soon as she noticed that, she realized that he could see everything about her too. Not that she’d been hiding herself, but stretch marks weren’t quite so obvious in the dark or with lamplight. Was he seeing them now? He was probably noticing all of those little imperfections right at this moment. 

Beth swallowed and met Rio’s concerned gaze.

Rio rolled them, pulling out as he did. “Hey, hey,” he was touching her face and kissing her cheeks, “c’mere, baby.”

Beth realized that her cheeks were slightly wet. Was she crying?

He kissed her eyelids, murmuring something as he did.

“It’s me, it’s just me, ma,” he said, stroking her hair back. “What’s wrong?”

“This is so embarrassing!” Beth covered her face, wishing she could turn away from him.

“Elizabeth,” he said softly, “what’s wrong? Was it something I did?”

“No!” Beth pulled her hands away, suddenly feeling distraught that he might think himself at fault. “It’s so stupid. I’m so -“

“Don’t finish that sentence,” his voice hardened slightly. “If you don’t tell me what’s wrong, I can’t fix it.”

She laughed, the sound a little wet. “No, you’re like stupidly perfect, don’t worry.” She swiped at her eyes.

“I’m not perfect,” Rio said gently, rubbing her jaw with his thumbs.

Beth sniffed, then laughed. “I guess you do have a flat butt.”

Rio stared at Beth. “What?”

“You have a flat butt,” Beth repeated. “It’s the only part of you that isn’t absolutely perfect. It’s reassuring.”

He looked almost offended. “I don’t have a flat butt!”

“I’m sorry, but you do,” Beth told him, patting him on the chest. “I like it. I’ve probably got enough for both of us.”

He was still scowling a little, so Beth moved her hands down until they were on his ass and pulled him against her.

Still looking a bit grumpy, he raised an eyebrow.

“Come back,” she said. “Inside.”

Rio shifted. “You sure?”

“I’m sure,” Beth told him.

“You okay?” Rio asked.

Beth nodded.

“You know I like your ass, right?” Rio said, slipping back inside of her with a groan. “Those tits. Fuck,” he cursed, bending down to mouth at her nipple.

Beth arched her back. “I like you too,” she said.

It didn’t take long for Beth to tense around him with a sigh and Rio followed with a groan that he buried in the side of her neck.

After a few breaths, he pulled away, reaching down between them and pulling out.

“Shit,” Rio cursed.

Beth blinked. “What?”

“I -“ he hissed, “the condom broke.”

Oh. _Oh._

Beth looked down between them. “It’s okay. We’re both clean and I’m on birth control.”

His mouth thinned. He sat up and got off the bed, heading right to the bathroom. Beth heard water running, then he came back, a washcloth in his hands. She let him kneel between her thighs and press the cloth to her.

She stroked down the side of his face. “Hey, it’s okay,” she assured him.

He nodded. “I know,” he sighed, pressing a kiss to her belly. “It was just -”

Beth rubbed the top of his ears, delighted when he shivered.

“It’s okay,” Beth said again.

Rio sat up, looked at her evenly. “You need to learn how to care about yourself too, Elizabeth.”

Beth stared at him. “What?” She squeaked.

He got up and went to the bathroom, came back without the cloth.

“I can’t do that for you,” he said, joining her on the bed again. “I can take care of you with you, but you need to learn how to set boundaries, mami.”

“I do have boundaries,” Beth insisted.

He chewed on his bottom lip. “Elizabeth, I just came inside of you and you’re acting like it’s not a big deal.”

Beth sat up. “Because I’m an adult woman. We’re both clean, I’ve recently had an appointment with my doctor to ensure that my birth control is still effective and I don’t think you did it on purpose.” She shrugged.

Rio sighed, a sound born of frustration. “Not just that. You gotta learn to care about yourself so that you’ll know when someone else doesn’t. You gonna tell me what upset you?” He cupped her cheek and stroked the skin beneath her eye.

“I just - I started thinking about something,” she said, looking down, away from his face.

“That bad, huh?” Rio said. “I’ll have to do a better job of making sure you can’t think next time.”

Beth pressed a hand to his chest, right over the sacred heart that she found herself becoming more and more fascinated with. “It isn’t that.”

“What is it then?” Rio rubbed his hand up and down her arm.

“The light,” Beth answered.

“You a vampire?” Rio teased with a smile, tugging her back down to lie at his side.

She groaned. “No, I am not. I could see all of you and I got worried that you could see all of me.”

“I like seeing you,” he said.

She flushed.

“You don’t believe me?”

“No, I do,” she told him. “I just - I have a lot of -“ she tried to explain herself, but couldn’t.

Rio didn’t say anything, just started to run his fingertips up and down her spine.

“I maybe have some stuff that I need to work on,” Beth finally said.

Rio’s hand stopped moving and flattened against her back. “I think we all do, don’t you?”

“What do you need to work on?” Beth lifted her head so that she could see his face.

“I’m not perfect, Elizabeth,” he said. 

She nodded.

“But I’m willing to work on my shit. Are you?” He asked.

Beth hummed. “I want to try.”

He tapped her nose. “What’s for breakfast? I gotta go home and get a change of clothes before heading into work or everyone’ll give me shit.”

“Aren’t you the boss?” Beth sat up, grabbing her robe before going over to the dresser and pulling on clean underwear.

Rio followed her up. “It’s not a dictatorship. If I tried telling that bunch what to do, they’d probably murder me or something.”

Time was a little shorter than Beth would have liked, so she settled for feeding him oatmeal and fruit as he told her about his appointments, peppering her with questions about her usual catering process as he did. 

He didn’t drink coffee and her tea selection was apparently bad enough to make his brow wrinkle, but he settled on English Breakfast. She made a note to figure out what kind of tea he did like and pick some up.

“Have a good day at work,” Beth said when she walked him to the door after they ate.

Rio bent down to kiss her. “Same to you.”

“I have the day off.”

“You’re a small business owner and a mom of four,” he retorted. “You really telling me that you take days off?”

Beth blushed, her mind going to the stack of paperwork she was planning to do and the cleaning she wanted to deal with.

“That’s what I thought,” Rio said. “Don’t wear yourself out, mami.” Cradling her face, he bent down and kissed her deeply. “See you at soccer?”

Beth nodded. “See you at soccer.”

She watched him walk to his car and drive off, not closing the front door until he went around the corner and out of sight.

———————

Rio drove to the shop, where Jesse was putting out the sign at the front. There were a few people waiting outside, probably for walk-ins, but the weather was nice and they didn’t seem in a rush to get into the shop.

“Hey Rio,” Jesse greeted him. “Stef called. There was some kind of car crash, so he’s going to be about fifteen minutes late. His ten o’clock isn’t here yet though, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Rio hung up his jacket and moved to the front desk. “Walk-ins?”

“Three so far, though I’m not really sure about the two girls,” Jesse said.

“What’s up?” Rio leaned against the desk and crossed his arms.

“They want overly detailed and tiny.” He made a circle the size of a quarter with his fingers. “I said it would likely need to be simplified or done larger, but what do I know? I just answer the phone.”

Rio clapped a hand down on Jesse’s shoulder. “You’re probably right. They give you trouble?”

Jesse shrugged. “Not really trouble. Just not listening.”

“I’ll deal with it,” Rio said. “The other walk-in?”

“Has a drawing. Shouldn’t be an issue. My guess is about two hours.”

“Alright,” Rio nodded. “I guess we can let them in.”

The two girls agreed to simplifying their design almost immediately when Rio suggested it. 

The other walk-in was an out of towner who had plenty of experience getting tattooed and had come for Rio himself. Hearing that, he felt a familiar sense of pride at the knowledge that someone had sought him out to put his mark on their body.

The afternoon passed in fits and bursts. Stef came in for his appointments, Nat dropping in to do some sketching. He gave the two twenty-somethings their matching sun and moons, did the out of towner’s snake. As he was wrapping up with that session, a woman in her 70s, accompanied by her granddaughter, came in to get her first tattoo.

“I’ve spent my life doing what other people told me to,” she informed Rio, “and damn if I’m going to keep doing that.”

Laughing, Rio sketched something out for her.

As he tattooed the flower on Gloria’s forearm, she held her granddaughter’s hand and asked him all kinds of questions. Did he have a wife? No. A husband? No, he was seeing a woman, but it was new still. Did they have kids?

“Nana,” the granddaughter, Sophie, sighed, “you don’t always need to know everyone’s business.”

Gloria scoffed. “Rio can tell me to mind my own business if he likes. Until then, I’m going to pry into his life because you won’t let me interrogate you about yours.”

Sophie groaned. “I am so sorry.”

Rio just grinned. “Nah, it’s easier when it’s not your mom or grandma doing the questioning. Believe me. And to answer that last question, we both have kids from previous relationships. My son, Marcus, plays soccer with her youngest.”

“Well how about that,” Gloria said. “Is she a looker?”

“Most beautiful woman I ever met,” Rio told her truthfully. “Present company excluded, of course.”

She waved her free hand, but her smile got a little bigger. “It’s going well?”

Rio bit his lip against his laughter as Sophie glanced up at the ceiling like she was waiting to be delivered by God. He caught the slight tightness around Gloria’s eyes as the pain started to bother her more.

“Yeah,” he said, hoping to distract her. “I’m making plans to have her over for dinner one night with me and Marcus so they can get to know each other better.”

“What are you going to make?”

Rio shrugged. “Whatever I make, it ain’t gonna be anywhere near as good as what Elizabeth can do.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Gloria said. “What’s your specialty?”

“Other than chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese?” Rio joked. “Probably huevos rancheros. Used to make it with my dad’s mom.”

Gloria nodded. “Make her that,” she declared. “The fact that it’s got meaning to you will make it even more special.”

“Yeah?” Rio asked.

“If it helps, she and Gran have been together since 1973,” Sophie spoke up, smiling at her grandmother. “Even though Gran doesn’t entirely approve of this.”

Gloria clucked her tongue. “Well that’s too bad. I told Millie not to get a mullet in 82, but guess what she did? Years of photos, ruined by a mullet.”

Rio choked on his laughter, enjoying the glint in Gloria’s eyes.

After ringing her out, Rio leaned across the counter. “So what’s the secret to lasting that long?”

Gloria reached out and set her hand on top of his, patted it. “No secret,” she told him with a grin. “But if there was one, it would probably be to talk to each other. Understand each other. Put time in.”

“If Millie ever wants a matching one, come on back,” Rio said, making her laugh. “I’d be happy to help.”

“Good luck with your Elizabeth,” Gloria said on her way out, winking at him as Sophie tried to usher her grandmother out of the shop.

“I think,” Jesse said once they were gone, “she’s what my grandma would call a ‘real firecracker’.”

Rio snorted. “That’s putting it lightly.”

———————

Two nights later found him at his mother’s place for Sunday dinner. The meal over with, Rio finished stowing the extra leaves from his mother’s dining room table in the slot below the table and straightened up.

“What’s this about you seeing a woman named Elizabeth?” His sister’s hand came down on his shoulder, squeezing. “Marcus said you’ve been on some dates.”

Rio groaned, burying his face in his hands.

Lora cackled. “Sold out by your own son,” she crowed. “How does it feel?”

Their mother came in from the kitchen and made a disapproving noise. “Lora, leave your brother alone.”

“No! He has a girlfriend!”

He dropped his hands to look up at his mother. She had hers on her hips. “I know that, Lora. He told me that he was going on a date with a mother from Marcus’ soccer team. You would know it too if you came to Sunday dinner more often,” she scolded.

Rio breathed a sigh of relief as his mother pivoted to Lora, who narrowed her eyes at him and drew her finger across her throat.

He did the sensible thing and retreated to the backyard, filling his glass with water on the way out.

“I hear you have a girlfriend,” his brother-in-law, Nick, said the second the screen door closed behind him. Rio sank into the wicker chair next to him.

“Who told you?” Rio scowled at the grinning man, who nodded in Marcus’ direction.

“Kids have no filter, man, you know that. Incapable of keeping things to themselves.” Nick laughed. “Someone in Mina’s class apparently got the sex talk, which meant that he wanted to share it with everyone in the class, so we had to sit Mina down this week and have that chat.”

Rio winced. “How’d that go?”

“Kids are something,” Nick replied. “They come up with the weirdest shit.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Rio sighed, kicking up his feet onto the railing.

“Don’t let your mother see you doing that,” Nick wagged his finger.

Rio looked at his brother-in-law. “Which one of us has spent more years in this house?”

Nick held up his hands. “Don’t come crying to me when she kneecaps you. So how’d you meet this mystery woman?”

“Her sister came into the shop for a consultation. Elizabeth came with her.”

“Elizabeth, huh?”

“You want me to tell you how we met or do you want me to dump this on your head?” Rio held up his glass of water.

“Fine,” Nick relaxed into his chair. “I’ll shut up.”

Rio took a sip of water and waited, just to see if Nick would keep talking. When he was quiet, he went on, “She came with her sister. I didn’t get her number even though I should have.” I did make her orgasm so hard that she nearly cried, he reminded himself, a little bit smug.

“Took Marcus to soccer practice and turns out he’s on the same team as Jane, Elizabeth’s youngest. I asked her out. The end.” Rio drained the glass and set it aside.

“You’re such a fucking liar,” Nick accused. “I saw that little smile. No way that’s all that happened.”

“Yeah, well that’s all you’re going to get,” Rio said. In the yard, Mina was directing Marcus and Alex through what seemed to be an obstacle course they’d made with their grandmother’s garden tools.

“Meaning that it’s the PG version,” Nick guessed.

Rio shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“Whatever, it’ll be good enough that your sister doesn’t chase you down tonight,” Nick said, “but expect her to start showing up at your place trying to get a glimpse of this Elizabeth. You know how she -“

Alex ran over to them, giggling, his sister’s hat clutched in his hand. Instead of going for his dad, he went to Rio and tried to climb onto his lap. At three and a half, he wasn’t quite big enough to do it himself, so Rio gave him a hand.

“You steal your sister’s hat?” Rio looked him in the eye.

Alex put the hat on Rio’s head. “No.”

Rio heard Nick sigh.

“It’s still a crime even if you move the goods, kid,” Rio told Alex, tickling him.

Mina wasn’t far behind and she snatched her hat off of Rio’s head with a scowl at her little brother. “I’m going to steal Mr Hippo later.”

Alex’s eyes widened and he gasped.

“Mina,” Nick warned.

Mina pursed her lips in an eerie imitation of Lora and went back to the garden.

“Is she gonna steal Mr Hippo?” Alex asked his dad, still looking fairly alarmed.

Nick reached out to tap Alex’s nose. “She’s certainly going to try.”

A couple of hours later, Rio lifted a mostly sleeping Marcus from the couch. He was awake enough that he wrapped his arms around Rio’s neck and mumbled something that sounded like, “Good night, abuelita,” when Rio’s mother kissed his cheek.

“I’d like to meet this young woman of yours,” his mother said as she walked with him to the car. “We’ll set something up, just with me.”

“Not the whole family?” Rio asked.

She clucked her tongue. “Lord no. We don’t need your sister scaring her off. She can bring her babies though.”

“Ma,” Rio put Marcus in the backseat, “they’re not babies.”

“They’re always babies. You’re still my baby. Your sister is still my baby.”

Rio snorted as he buckled Marcus in, then closed the door quietly to finish the conversation.

“I need a bit more time,” he said.

His mother gave him a pointed look.

“We’ve both got kids and we want to make sure that we ease into things. Bringing them around my whole family is not easing her kids into it.” Rio stepped away from the car to wrap his mother in a hug. She was short, her head not even reaching his chin, but the simple embrace still made Rio feel like he was a kid again.

“But maybe I could be talked into letting you meet her.”

His mother nodded. “That will be enough for now. Though your sister probably won’t last long.” She looked into the backseat of the car. “Does Cassie know?”

“She knows that I’m seeing someone. No specifics,” Rio said. “The hospital has been dealing with a lot of scheduling stuff, so Cassie hasn’t been able to come to soccer games yet this year.”

“Don’t draw it out too long,” his mother warned him, then smiled. “I like the look on your face when you talk about this Elizabeth.”

Rio huffed and stepped away. “Whatever,” he grumbled, unable to resist a little bit of petulance.

———————

Beth watched as Jane swung her leg back and kicked, making contact with the soccer ball but not getting it very far. The soccer season was well underway, enough so that everyone was at least consistently running in the correct direction in order to score.

Beth clapped. “Good job, Jane!”

Rio was stretched out on the soccer blanket beside her, once again drinking one of her juice boxes. Only now she expected it and packed extras. He finished it off with a noisy final slurp, then set it down.

“Who’s the blonde lady looking like she wants to murder you?” He asked, nodding his head towards the other side of the field, where the parents of the other team’s kids were sitting.

Beth knew exactly who he was talking about. “Kathy Tillson.”

“What the hell did you do that she’s that pissed at you?” He knocked his knee against hers.

“Nothing.”

Rio shook his head. “No way. That woman’s looking at you like you killed her whole family or something.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “I think it’s less that I’ve done something and more that she thinks you’re hot. She’s Mykaela’s mom. You’ve met her.”

Rio glanced across the field. “If her kid is on our team then what’s she doing over there then?”

“Spending time with Ashley Gibbons,” Beth said. “The brunette. I’m surprised that they didn’t get their kids onto the same team. Maybe the coaches said never again.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rio asked, leaning towards Beth. “What’s the PTA gossip?”

“They don’t participate in that kind of thing,” Beth told him. “They have better things to do.” She couldn’t keep the hint of bitterness out of her voice as she recalled Ashley saying exactly that when Beth asked if she would help out at the bake sale a few years back.

He nudged his shoulder against hers.

“But,” she said, “there may have been an incident last summer involving a water cooler full of ice and freezies that may have led to someone calling 911.”

Rio’s eyebrow went up. “Now you gotta tell me more.”

Beth laughed, shaking her head. 

“Oh shit,” she sobered, “Kathy’s on her way over.”

Kathy Tillson was, and always had been, everything that Beth was not. She was tall, willowy, with hair that looked right out of a shampoo commercial, two parents that spoiled her rotten, and a big enough wardrobe to clothe their entire class three times over.

She reached their blanket. “Hi,” she said cheerfully, looking down at them. Or rather, looking at Rio.

“Hello,” Beth replied. Rio didn’t say anything.

Kathy was eyeing up Rio, seemingly without any concern that Beth would see her. Which she most definitely could.

“Did you come here for something specific, Kathy?” Beth kept her voice sugar sweet.

The other mom snapped out of it, turning her attention back to Beth. “Oh, sorry Beth. I wanted to speak to Marcus’ dad.”

Rio stopped looking at the soccer field and turned to Kathy. “Yeah?”

“I was thinking how nice it would be for Mykaela and Marcus to have a playdate,” Kathy smiled.

Rio glanced back to the field. “Which one is that?”

Beth barely covered up her laughter.

“She’s number 11,” Kathy pointed to her daughter, who was already making solid inroads into becoming the Regina George of Jane’s class.

Rio found her. “I don’t think she and my son are friends,” he said diplomatically.

“Doesn’t mean that they can’t be,” Kathy waved him off.

Rio leaned back onto his hands, not bothering to turn towards Kathy. “I’m not sure that it works like that. Marcus is pretty particular about who he spends time with and he’s close with Jane. But I’ll ask him. How about that?”

Kathy knew that she couldn’t push it further, so she retreated with a hasty, “Bye.” She gave Beth a tight lipped glare.

“There’s no way in hell Marcus is going to want to spend time with her,” Rio said as soon as Kathy was out of earshot. “He said she tripped him at practice on purpose.”

“Like mother, like daughter,” Beth replied. 

“Kathy and I went to high school together,” she elaborated when Rio gave her a look. “She’s still mad that a senior asked me to prom when we were sophomores.”

Rio chuckled, then leaned over and kissed Beth’s ear. “Good to know that she’s a well adjusted person.”

“Don’t even,” Beth bumped their shoulders together, “because I’m still mad at her for high school stuff too. She used to make fun of my mom.”

“That’s something worth being mad about. But prom? Nah.”

“Did you even go to your prom?” Beth asked, setting her head on his shoulder.

“Nope,” he replied. “I was already working by then.”

“Yeah?”

“Between making money and spending money to wear a suit while standing around with a bunch of other awkward teenagers,” Rio said, “I picked making money.”

“And I bet you don’t even remember your shift,” Beth teased him.

“Probably don’t,” he agreed, “but it was still the right choice. I witnessed the meltdowns at Lora’s prom.” He shuddered.

“What meltdowns?”

“She and her friends used our place to get ready. I got chased out of my room for a full day so they had more places to change.” Rio sounded amused and when Beth lifted her head, he was grinning. “Then one girl - Tara, her boyfriend bailed last minute. I thought my mom was going to have to start cracking heads together to stop them all from going after him, half made up.”

He shook his head, like he was still slightly disbelieving. “She told Tara if she started crying it would mess up all her hard work, then went next door to our neighbour. They had a son home from college for the summer - Jackson. Came back to the house five minutes later and told Tara that Jackson would be taking her to prom.”

“He had a suit?”

Rio turned his head towards Beth. “He had a suit because he was on the football team and they had to have suits for their games. When he came over to pick Tara up, I thought she was going to faint.”

Beth laughed. “In a good way?”

“Oh yeah. Lora’s friends used to come over in the summers to watch him cut the grass.”

Beth started laughing harder, falling against Rio as she did. “No way.”

“My room actually had the best vantage point, so I charged them a couple bucks each to cluster at my window.”

“You didn’t,” Beth gasped.

“I did. Used it to buy bad weed.”

Beth kept giggling.

“And ten years ago, Jackson and Tara got married,” he finished.

“Really?”

“Yup,” Rio replied. “They’ve got three kids. My mom’s the godmother to their eldest.”

“That’s actually adorable,” Beth said, calming down. “That made you not want to go to prom?”

He huffed. “Nah, that was probably the best thing to come out of that. One of Lora’s other friends got into a car accident with her boyfriend, messed her up pretty bad. Lora had a pregnancy scare. Someone at the prom started a fight and then wound up getting arrested.”

“Wow. I think the most exciting thing that happened was Trevor Cooper proposing to Marissa Gage.”

“They get married?” Rio asked.

“Broke up by Thanksgiving,” Beth said.

Rio hummed. “Well let’s just say that we grew up in different neighbourhoods. Your ex come back to go to your prom?”

Beth nodded. “Yup. He was finishing up college and about to take a position at the dealership to get ready for the day he’d be taking over.”

He nodded, but didn’t keep up the conversation after that, letting it taper off.

“So when you gonna come for dinner?” He said a few minutes later.

It took Beth a beat to catch up with what he was asking. “Uh -“ she turned towards him.

“You got time this week?” He asked. “Say like, Friday? Me and Marcus’ll make you something.”

Beth bit her lip to hold back her grin. “The kids are at Dean’s, so that could work. Ruby and Annie are coming over to watch TV, but not until 9:30.”

“If another night is better -“

Beth cut him off by leaning against him. “Friday is good. It’s not like I’m staying the night with Marcus there and I don’t want to interrupt your bedtime traditions.”

He must have turned his head to the side, because his shoulder shifted and then his mouth pressed against the top of her head. “Friday it is then. Come around 5.”

“Yes, your highness,” Beth nudged him, “5 o’clock Friday.”

“I like the sound of that,” Rio said, moving his arm until she wasn’t leaning against it so he could wrap around her shoulders. “Your highness.”

**Author's Note:**

> Beta’d by medievalraven and neveroffanon. Thank you to them and to everyone for reading! As usual, if you think that there's any content that I should have tagged for, please let me know.
> 
> Title from Selena Gomez’s Love You Like A Love Song.
> 
> Gloria is made-up, but is based on a pair of older women who came in to get their first tattoos one day when I had a session. They said something along the lines of, “We’ve spent x number of years doing what people told us. Now we’re doing what we want and we’ve always wanted tattoos!” They were the cutest and I think about them a lot.


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